How Fifth Year Changed My Life
by Adonna
Summary: Ron learns that he is more than a sidekick. I promise it's good! Please R/R!
1. Default Chapter

How Fifth Year Changed My Life  
  
Fifth year. I must say that despite its problems, it was an amazing year for me personally. I know this may sound crazy, but I learned a lot about myself. As cheesy as it may seem, I realized this year that being me, that being Ron Weasley, is pretty damn cool. It's not so secret that all my life, I have been overshadowed. First it was by my brothers. The amazing athletes, the prefects, the Head Boys, the jokesters, the popular, good-looking ones. Then, by my best friends. Harry and Hermione. The most famous person in our world, and the top girl in our year. I felt like I was always the weakest link, a mere afterthought. I felt like nothing. I felt pitied. I felt like a person without a personality of my own, as if my personality was just formed from a piece of each of theirs. After all, no one on the outside ever asked me questions about myself, it was always someone else, someone who they deemed more of their time with me than, well, me. I became bitter, and it wasn't healthy. It made me feel a little better to get upset at first, but later, I would be more miserable than ever. Those weeks in fourth year when Harry and I weren't speaking were the worst of my life. And somehow, though I don't know how, I felt even worse when Hermione and I had a spat over her going to the Ball with the famous Viktor Krum. All of that changed fifth year, and this is the story of how. In mid-July, I received an owl from Hermione.  
  
Dear Ron,  
  
How are you? I am well, though the holiday is beginning to seem a bit long, isn't it? I know you're probably thinking I feel that way because I miss the lessons, but well, I miss you. Harry too, of course, but you know that no one can make me laugh like you, not even Fred and George (by the way, how's the joke shop coming?). Hope to see you soon!  
  
Hermione  
  
I read the letter once, but was afraid to read it again because I was worried I'd read it wrong, She missed me? There were several things that startled me about the way I felt after this letter, it didn't feel like much to in a sense "beat" Harry as something, it just felt so good to know Hermione missed me, and that I made her laugh. I wrote back right away. Dear Hermione,  
  
I am well also. I miss you very much as well, and it cheers me to know how positively hilarious you find me, I never knew. I reckon Mum will let you come and stay soon, though she'll have to check with Dumbledore about Harry, she asked recently and he seems to want him to stay with the Muggles. Wonder why. Your Friend,  
  
Ron  
  
P.S. Have you gone to visit Krum at all?  
  
Dear Ron,  
  
Honestly, you never knew I found you so funny? I would have thought it was utterly obvious. And no, I did not visit with Viktor, and I do not plan to. I can explain why some other time. I would love to come and stay. Harry's birthday is in a week and I'd love to do something special for him. I write him often, but his responses are usually short, and almost cold. I know he doesn't mean anything by it, there is still a lot of stuff he needs to sort through yet. Love Always,  
  
Hermione  
  
Dear Hermione,  
  
Dumbledore says Harry shouldn't come at all until a week before term starts. You can come whenever you like though. It's very quiet around here. I reckon it frightens Mum a bit. Bill and Charlie won't be able to make it home at all this summer, and Dad and Percy may as well live at the Ministry. Fred and George are working at Zonko's for the summer, and somehow they came up with enough money aside from their wages to live near the shop. Mum wasn't too keen on that idea, but now she would rather have them there than wanting to work for the ministry. Next she'll be after me to find some direction. So anyway, it's just Ginny, Mum, and I except for the 6 or 7 hours a day Dad and Percy manage to spend at home, which of course is devoted to sleep. Ginny spends a lot of time in her room and asks to borrow Pig a lot, don't know what that's about. If you come over for Harry's birthday, we can have a little party in his honor and then write to him about it. He's been rather short with me as well. If he had someone to confide in I wouldn't worry so much, if he could confide in the Muggles, or someone else even...But I'm sure he'll get over Cedric's death at least in due time. See You Soon!  
  
Ron  
  
Dear Ron,  
  
I've lots to say, but I'll be arriving on the afternoon of the 30th. We can talk then. Love Always,  
  
Hermione  
  
I wasn't quite sure how it would be with Hermione there. One thing is for certain; I was NOT used to living in a house with virtually only three women. It turns out, the apprehensions I had weren't unfounded. The rest of the summer would be an interesting journey. 


	2. Chapter 02

How Fifth Year Changed My Life Chapter 02  
  
The day Hermione was to arrive, I was more nervous than I had ever been in my life. I thought there was something wrong with me. I had never been nervous to see or be around Hermione before. But then again, I had never been faced with the prospect of being alone with her for very long. I decided to go see what Ginny was up to, just to pass the time. "Gin?"  
  
"Yeah?"  
  
"Can I come in?" I asked, exasperatedly. After all, what did she think I was standing there for?  
  
"Umm, sure. What's wrong?"  
  
"What? Something has to be wrong for me to visit my little sister?" Ginny chuckled slightly, and continued to stare at a blank piece of parchment with a quill in her hand. She had a look of both excitement and sorrow on her face as she was obviously contemplating how to begin the letter. I had no idea who it was to, though I was certainly wondering. "Who are you writing to?" I asked, breaking the silence.  
  
"I, I can't tell you Ron. I wish that I could, honest. But I just can't," she sighed, slowly and with honesty.  
  
"Why not?"  
  
"Because, I just don't want to ruin anything..." she trailed off.  
  
"Right. It doesn't matter to me anyway. Well, this sure has been fun Gin, but I'm going to go." I said, with a note of sarcasm in my voice.  
  
"Ron wait," she paused. She sounded almost as desperate to tell me something as she had that time during second year when she had been writing in Riddle's diary. "-have you heard from Harry lately?"  
  
"Only to tell me Dumbledore won't let him come to stay until a week before term. Why?"  
  
"What about Hermione?"  
  
"She said he's been rather short with her, Why?" I said, slightly more forcefully than the last time.  
  
"I just, worry I guess." "Ginny, you haven't heard from Harry, have you?"  
  
"It's not important. I'll be down when Hermione gets here," she said, in a tone of surprising defiance.  
  
I decided not to push it. What ever it was, whether it was abut Harry or not, I had more pressing problems at the moment. How was I supposed to treat Hermione? How should I greet her? She had kissed Harry on the cheek... should I kiss her on the cheek? Or should I just hug her? I decided that the hug was probably the safest bet, but then I saw a car stop at the bottom of the driveway and realized it was her. I saw a childhood friend from out of the window walking to the door. When I opened the door I saw the most beautiful girl I had ever seen. Suddenly I couldn't remember what I was supposed to say, or how I had planned to greet her. The only thing I could think was that I couldn't believe a girl like this was here, to visit me.  
  
"Oh, Ron! It's so good to see you again," Hermione sighed, with a sense of vulnerability in her voice, which I only detected hours later, as I ran over each and every word she had spoken to me that day before I could fall asleep.  
  
"It's good to see you too, Herm," I said, hugging her. It was a natural sort of hug. In the heat of the moment I had forgotten the hug that I had choreographed in my head, opting to go with the flow instead. That was the beauty of the way I was around Hermione. I could plan what to say to her, and how to hug her, and what to do with her while she was at The Burrow, but the fact was, that when I was around her everything happened naturally. That was one of the first ways I came to appreciate my relationship with Hermione, the knowledge that I didn't have to try with her. The knowledge that I could be myself with her and know that we would have fun together, no questions asked.  
  
I watched Hermione struggle for a second with her bags before offering to help her. I didn't do this to make her mad, but because I knew that if I offered straight away she would have scolded me for assuming that just because she was a girl, she needed help with her bag. "I can take one of those," I said, fighting back a smile.  
  
"Took you long enough to offer!" she exclaimed, half seriously. I should have seen this coming a mile away; I could never win at a fight with Hermione. Although, I found this oddly reassuring after not seeing her for a month. I was glad to know that she was still the good ol' Hermione that I missed. 


	3. How Fifth Year Changed My Life 03

How Fifth Year Changed My Life Chapter 03  
  
We spent the afternoon with Ginny, who had emerged from the confines of her room to greet Hermione. Ginny was still acting peculiar, but I knew there was no point in questioning her. She may be different from us boys in some ways, but she still possessed the one quality that defined all of us as true members of the family- stubbornness.  
  
In her last letter, Hermione had said that she'd had lots to say, and I was bursting to hear all about them. However, I didn't know if they were the sorts of things that I should be the one to ask her about. I decided, though I found this very difficult, to let her bring everything up on her own. The reason for this was because there was one specific topic that I knew would be included on her list of things to tell me- Viktor Krum. She had been so final in her letter about not going to see him, and I was wondering if there was anything that would support my original theory about him that he was nothing but an overly confident prat, who would never do anything good for anyone unless he could see what was in it for him. True, I had made my amends with him, but it's funny how sometimes absence can actually make you grow less fond of someone- for I found that all I was able to do in this instance, was dwell in all the anger I had built up for Krum during that year. Even though I knew that I had exaggerated most of it, even to myself.  
  
Dinner was a fairly subdued affair, at least in terms of what I was used to. Mum spent most of it urging Ginny, Hermione, and I to eat more, as she had, (out of habit,) made enough food for nine people. After we were finished eating, Ginny quickly seized the opportunity to head back up to her room. However, she came back downstairs a few seconds later to ask Mum if it was alright if she borrowed Errol.  
  
"So what'll the two of you be up to this evening?" Mum asked.  
  
"I dunno- Hermione?" I said, turning my head to look at her.  
  
"Let's go for a walk," she said, slowly.  
  
"Alright, I'm going to clean up here and be off to bed. I didn't sleep well last night. I kept hearing the Ghoul," Mum said, bitterly.  
  
"I've learned to just sleep right through it; years of having a room right under him will do that to you," I said. Mum chuckled and bid us farewell as we slipped out through the back door.  
  
If anyone had told me that morning that I would have been on an evening stroll with Hermione that night, I would have been very nervous. Now that I was doing it, however, it wasn't so scary, and I once again realized what a gift it was to just be able to be yourself around someone. People always talk about "awkward silences", but I think that one of the defining characteristics of a friend is being able to sit in a comfortable silence. When you finally reach that point in a relationship, with anyone, that you're comfortable enough to just enjoy being in the presence of that person, when no words are needed for you to know what the other is feeling.  
  
"Any place special you wanted to go?" I said after a few minutes.  
  
"Where ever you go," she replied.  
  
"Sorry?"  
  
"Where ever you go, when you go on walks," she paused, seeing a puzzled look on my face, "you know, to think about stuff...oh come on, you have to have a place you go to be alone, with that house-full of people."  
  
"Yeah, I do, I just...you surprised me that's all," I paused, "what makes you think I'd want to bring you there any way?" I joked.  
  
"You'll bring me there if you know what's good for you, Ron Weasley!" she replied.  
  
"Is that so?"  
  
"Oh it's so," she said smiling brilliantly. And then suddenly she became serious. "Besides. I want to go somewhere where we can talk."  
  
I looked away from her and realized that in the excitement of joking around with her, and of seeing her smile, I had walked us a bit too far in one direction. I led her in a bit of a circle attempting to cover up my blunder, and when she said "Didn't we just come from this way?" I covered up by saying that I had wanted to walk around a little more before we sat down. Though, she knew, and I knew she knew, that I was lying.  
  
Then we had arrived. It was a beautiful willow tree on the edge of a clearing where you could lay for hours during the day, under the immense shade of the branches, or at night, watching the sky. I took her over to the tree and pulled back a few of the branches so Hermione could get closer to the trunk of the tree, which I normally liked to lean against when I sat.  
  
"This is a beautiful spot," Hermione said in an awe-struck voice.  
  
"Yeah, haven't been coming here too long, just since the beginning of last summer."  
  
"What do you do here?" she said, giving me an interested stare. I attempted to meet her gaze, but found that I couldn't hold it and tell her the truth at the same time. She sensed my silly embarrassment and said, now in a more playful voice, "Oh come on! Just tell me!"  
  
"I, well...I've been making up Quidditch plays. I come here to draw them out...I mean, I'm hoping to make the team this year, Wood's old spot is open. I...I think I've even got an honest shot at captain too. I mean, Fred, George, Alicia, Angelina, and Katie are all older, and in the past they've always taken someone who'll be able to stay with the job for a few years. Harry...I mean, he flies really well of course, but, well, I've been around Quidditch my whole life, I know a lot more than he does about plays, and the mechanics of the game, and other positions and stuff. So...well it's a shot anyway, and the plays might help me get it too, if they turn out to actually work. Haven't had enough people around to try them out on brooms yet."  
  
"That's great, Ron," she said smiling at me, as though letting me know non- verbally that she didn't think I was lame, or that I was hanging on some far-out-glimmer-of-a-hope-dream of becoming Quidditch Captain.  
  
"So what did you want to talk about?" I said.  
  
"Well, you did ask about Viktor, and Bulgaria in you letter. So, the answer is that I'm not going to visit Viktor, because he's just a friend, and no matter what he hopes that's all we'll ever be. And anyways, I have better friends to visit," she said smiling at me. "Harry needs us both now, Ron. I couldn't justify going away to visit Viktor, even just a friendly visit, when I've been getting such despondent letters from Harry."  
  
"Yeah, did you think Ginny was acting strange at all?" I said  
  
"What? Ron...why do you have to change the subject? I want to talk about Harry now," she said, desperately trying to hide the annoyance in her voice so that we could have a civilized conversation about how to help our friend.  
  
"See, that's just it. I'm not changing the subject. Ginny's been acting really strange, remember I told you in my letter that she was asking to borrow Pig a lot?" Hermione nodded, still looking puzzled. "Well, I had a very weird conversation with her just before you got here, and I think she's writing to Harry."  
  
"Well," Hermione paused, looking very confused, "why shouldn't she? I mean, they're friends and all..."  
  
"No Hermione," I said cutting her off, "she's writing to him, a lot. I don't just mean a bunch of short little notes either. She's gone through more parchment this summer than I went through in History of Magic last year."  
  
"Well, Ginny does have her own friends to write to, why do you assume she's only writing to Harry? He won't even talk to us."  
  
"She asked me if I'd heard from Harry and I told her about how he said that Dumbledore said he can't come until a week before term starts, and that you said he's been short with you, and she just kind of, nodded and sat there, staring. So I asked if she'd heard from him...and she said she couldn't tell me. I'm telling you Hermione, it was weird." Hermione was still looking very skeptical at my whole theory.  
  
"Well, I'll try to talk to her before we go to sleep tonight. I can probably manage to get her to say something."  
  
We sat in silence for a few minutes, both of us thinking about this situation, between long glances at the beautiful sky above us. And then, even though I had all the time in the world to think about what I was going to say next, I said something with out thinking at all. Without thinking about what it would sound like, or what it would imply. It just burst forth from my lips faster that if I had been spitting out one of Fred and George's newest joke-candy creations.  
  
"What is it about Krum that makes you think you could only ever like him as a friend?" 


End file.
